Chestnuts and Metal
by Pluytje
Summary: incomplete and abandoned - A little Krillin and #18 get together
1. So no one told you life was gonna be thi...

  
  
  
I wrote this story for my little sister, who adores #18. I hope you'll like it. Oh, and _please_ review *looks pleading with big brown puppydog eyes* 

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ... bla, bla, bla, yackedy, smackedy...   
  
  


***

Chestnuts and Metal

Chapter 1

So no one told you life was gonna be this way

  
Krillin landed softly on the beach, that surrounded the Kamehouse. He looked around and got the feeling that something wasn't right. It took him some time to figure it out.  
"Hey master Roshi, Oolong, what are you doing out here? Isn't your favorite aerobics show on right now?" he asked the two figures sitting outside in their beach chairs.  
"Don't rub it in." Oolong replied coarsely. Krillin scratched his head. "What's going on? I don't get it?"  
Oolong shot him a venomous glare. "Well while you were out in town, having fun with your friends, saying your goodbyes to the future-kid and everything, we got a visitor."  
"Correction." Roshi looked up from the dirty magazine he'd been reading. "Krillin got a visitor."  
"A visitor? Me? Wow, I wonder who it.."  
Oolong cut him of, "And _she_ took over the living room, so now we're forced to sit out here and get sunburn, while we are indeed missing our favorite show."  
Now Krillin was really confused. "She?" He didn't know a lot of girls and none of them would ever come visit him here.. The only one who would was Bulma and he'd just left her at the Capsule Corp. There was no way she could have beaten him here.  
"I'd think you'd better go inside. I don't think she likes to be kept waiting." Roshi almost sounded scared as he said it. When he saw that Krillin noticed this, he quickly buried his nose in his magazine, obviously ashamed.  
Since Krillin was getting rather curious, he walked up to the front door. He had no sooner stepped into the house or he froze. On the couch sat a cool blonde. Her back perfectly straight, her entire posture was rather stiff as a matter of fact; she apparently didn't want to get to comfortable.  
After he'd stood there for a few minutes, just staring at her, wondering what in Kami's, correction, Dende's name she was doing here, she sighed and started to speak. "Has the cat got your tong or something? It's not very polite to just stare at somebody like that."  
Her tone was harsh and yet he just couldn't help loving the sound of her voice. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.. ehh.. well you know.. ehm Can I.. get you anything? A drink? Or maybe something to eat?"  
"I'm an android. I don't need a lot of food or liquids." Her cool, pale, blue eyes stayed fixed on him. It made him pretty nervous. He truly didn't know how to act in front of her. "Oh yeah… I guess I forgot." He put his hand behind his head and put up a big Goku-like grin.  
She told herself it looked preposterous, but she had to suppress a small smile, that was trying to work his way on to her face.   
"Well." He said as he casually jumped onto the chair to her left, gathering all his courage and focusing just to stay calm and not make a fool of himself. "What are you here for then. Do you need help or something." He regretted saying that almost immediately. _Yeah right, like she was gonna come to you if she really needed help._  
The words were pretty hard for her to get out; she wasn't used to having conversations like these. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do." she answered.  
He was totally stunned. "You do? But what could you possibly need my help for?" he asked, not sure whether he wanted to know the answer.  
She took a deep breath. If she was really going through with this, she needed to say it now. She'd thought it over a million times, but she couldn't think of any solution but this one. " I need you to help me build a life."  
"A life?" He was a little confused. "What do you mean by that?"  
She growled and a scowl appeared on her features. Why didn't he just get the point right away? She didn't really feel like explaining it to him. "Well you little genius, you might not have realized this, but now that I'm not supposed to destroy the world anymore, I kind of need to do something else with my life, if you could even call it that, since I'm not strictly alive. You said yourself, that I should go live a normal life. Well frankly, I wouldn't know where to start. I don't have anything. Get it?" she sounded pretty impatient and she made Krillin feel really ashamed for not realizing any of that.  
It stayed quiet for some time, while Krillin tried to figure out, what someone would need to start a whole new life.   
Eighteen decided she'd grant him some time to figure things out and started to look around a bit. It was really strange actually, but in the two hours she'd sat in the room waiting for him, she hadn't really looked at it. She'd just been staring out of the window, not really seeing anything, but trying to prepare for the conversation that was to come. It wasn't a very big room, she now noticed, but big enough. There was the couch she was sitting on, two chairs, one that was occupied by the little baldhead, than there was a low table, some plants and the TV set. There were three doors leading from the room, the first led outside, the second probably led to the kitchen and the third led upstairs. It wasn't a bad house and she found that she could even imagine herself living in a place like this.  


***

"I guess the first things you need are a job to earn some money and a place to stay." Krillin abruptly interfered with her thoughts.  
"A job? I don't thinks so. That means working with people..." she commented.  
"Oh yeah, I guess you don't have many social skills." He tried to break the ice a bit, but started stuttering after receiving a glare that would have send any kid home crying. "Oh.. s-ss-sorry… I-I-II d-ddidn't.." He stopped, realizing that this wasn't doing him any good. He took a few deep breaths and tried to think of what to say next.  
"What do you do to get money anyway? I mean fighting doesn't earn you anything and from what my data tells me, you weren't born a rich kid either."   
_Oh great_, he thought. _She's got data on me, I just hope Gero didn't put any embarrassing in there._ "Well actually I do some heavy labor from time to time."   
She raised an eyebrow. "Construction doesn't pay that much."  
"But it does. You wouldn't believe how glad those guys are with someone who can easily do the job of fifty men all by himself. They're always happy to pay me twenty-five times the normal salary, it's still cheaper for them you see."  
"I guess so." She was actually quite surprised, she had never thought he'd be doing that kind of work or that he'd be smart enough to make them pay that much.  
"The only way I see you getting money on short notice without getting a job is through Bulma though."  
"Bulma?" "Yeah, I sometimes borrow from her if I run out of money and there're no jobs to do. I always pay it back once I get a new job."  
"I don't thinks Bulma's going to lend me any money."  
"Who says she's gonna know about it?" Krillin got a sneaky look on his face. "I'll just tell her it's for me and pay it back to her later."  
"Correction. I'll pay it back to her later." Eighteen looked sternly at him.  
He gave her an ingenious smile and said: "Than it wouldn't be secret anymore, that the money was for you."  
She wasn't to happy that he outsmarted her and thus he succeeded in getting another hateful glare from her. He decided he'd try to change the subject.  
"Bulma won't have to money until a couple of days though. She always needs to do a humongous amount of paperwork."  
"That's just great. And how am I suppose to pay for an apartment or a hotel? I'm not about to sleep out in the open anymore. I've had more then enough of that."  
"We've got a spare room upstairs. You could always stay here for the time being." It had gotten out before he could stop it; again. He started cursing himself, badly.  
She looked at him with dawning wonder in her gracefully, slanted eyes. It was so hard for her to understand this man. First he hadn't shut her down, even though he had the controller and all his friends had expected him to. Then he'd taken care of her after Cell had spit her out and he'd even wanted to wish her human again. Now again he was trying to help her out by getting her money and offering to let her stay at his house.  
Krillin himself thought, that she would refuse because she wouldn't be able to stand being in such an environment as the Kamehouse. 'Goodness' (with a little touch of mischief, after all Roshi lived there as well) was in the air, just swirling around. He was surprised she hadn't suffocated yet.   
In reality she was just surprised that he was willing to sleep under the same roof with a vicious killer. Somehow he just didn't see her that way; that realization gave her a little twitch in her stomach and she concluded she didn't like it.  
Meanwhile Krillin was still telling himself what a complete fool he was and that he'd never get anywhere with the girl if he kept this up. _I might as well take the chance and put him out of his misery at the same time._ Eighteen said to herself.  
"Allright, I'll stay." She stood up immediately, not wanting to see Krillins completely stunned face. "Where's that spare room of yours?" she demanded. He got up immediately and showed her the room upstairs. She looked around and nodded. "I suppose it'll do for a few days."  
Since she wasn't really paying attention to him at the moment, Krillin took the opportunity to 'stare' at her. He really thought she was so beautiful. He noticed she was still wearing the same outfit she'd been wearing during the Cell Games and he realized it was probably the only outfit she had.  
"You know what?" She turned to him a bit annoyed. He decided to ignore her attitude and continued. "I'll see if I can get some cash from Bulma as well tomorrow." She didn't understand where he was heading. "Than you can do some shopping and get yourself some new clothes. I'm sure you've become quite fed up with that outfit by now." She blinked, did he just actually sense her thoughts? "Sure" she replied. He put up a grin again, quite a charming one to be honest; it gave her that funny feeling in her stomach again. A scowl appeared on her face.  
"I guess I'd better leave you to yourself now. If you need anything just give me a call and I'll be right there." He waved a bit clumsily and went out the door. "I'm sure you will be." She whispered. Then she turned and walked over to the window.  


***

The soft breeze blew her cornsilk hair back. The air of salty water and sandy beaches crept up into her nose. She sighed, it wasn't that bad here, not bad at all. A sound from below caught her attention. She saw her baldy 'friend' come out of the house and walk towards the others.  
"So?" Oolong inquired "Where's the girl?"  
"Upstairs." Krillin replied.  
"Oh, is she…" Oolong got a very meaningful expression on his face. Krillins head almost entirely turned the same color as the gi he fortunately and as a great exception wasn't wearing today. "NO!! It's not like that! Is that all you stupid pig can think of?"  
The pig snorted. "Well than what _is_ she doing upstairs?"  
"She's in the guestroom. She didn't have a place to stay, so I told her she could crash here for a couple of days."  
"You did what!?" Roshi suddenly sprang to his feet, the terror sounded in his voice. "We live here to you know. Who told you, we'd be ok with having a killer staying at our house? Sure she's a cutie, but she's still extremely murderous!" Eighteen smirked at hearing that. Obviously she hadn't lost her touch, yet.  
"Oh come on guys.." Krillin pleaded. "She doesn't want to be like that anymore. All she needs is to start a new life and if we don't help her who will?"  
"Charming." Oolong said. " Just a month ago you would have run off screaming if anyone had mentioned one of the androids was staying here. Now all of a sudden your playing mister-nice-guy, just because you got the hots for the piece of molded iron." The next thing the piggy knew, he was flat on his face, eating sand, about ten feet from where he had stood before. He got up and rubbed the bump that was starting to grow on the back of his head, where Krillin had hit him. His attacker, who was turning a lovely shade of red again, glared viciously at him.  
"I do _not_ have the hots for her." He didn't sound very convincing with the blush that was already beginning to spread to his bare skull. "And even more important: she's not a piece of molded iron!! She's a very beautiful young woman!!!" The second part kind of contradicted the first, but Oolong got the message anyway. So did Roshi, but even more importantly so did Eighteen.  
She'd heard and seen everything. Since she wasn't born yesterday, she now got the fact that Krillin was fond of her, _really_ fond of her. It came as a shock to her. After being turned into a cyborg by Gero, she had always thought that her greatest loss had been not being able to be loved. Who'd like someone that was created to destroy the entire human race? Yet here he was, blushing like he was on fire whenever anybody mentioned her. She felt quite honored. As she climbed out the window and laid down on the roof she decided, that she liked the little baldhead. _Especially when he punched the pig._ She thought smiling.  


***


	2. You're job's a joke, you're broke, you'r...

  
  
  
Here's a new chapter! Thank you so much the people who reviewed. I never knew there were so many people that disliked Oolong ^_^ Anyway: I hope you'll like this new chapter and please review!! 

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ... bla, bla, bla, yackedy, smackedy...   
  
  


***

Chapter 2

Your job's a joke, you're broke, you're lovelife's D.O.A.

  
Still yawning Krillin walked out onto the beach. He didn't sleep all that well; he kept thinking about the guest in the other room. Not that he was scared, not at all. He started out by doing his morning exercises, then he got some breakfast and sat down on the beach to eat it. This was something he did a lot lately. The fresh wind blowing from the ocean cleared his head. When he'd finished his breakfast he sat back to enjoy the morning sun.  
"Are you done yet?"  
Krillin startled and jumped up at hearing her voice. She was leaning against one of the palm trees and looking at him impatiently.  
"Yes, sure." He said quickly, whipping the last breadcrumbs of his face.  
"Then lets go." She ordered with an icy voice. Then she jumped into the air and flew off.  
He was a bit confused. He really hadn't expected her to come with him. Suddenly he realized that she was quickly moving out of sight and he kicked off after her.  
They'd been flying for about fifteen minutes now and they hadn't spoken a word. Krillin was leading the way and he considered starting a pleasant conversation about the weather or something. When he glanced back and saw the grumpy look on Eighteens face, he decided he'd better not. _She must've got out on the wrong side of the bed, though I doubt her bed has a right side._  
They landed at the Capsule Corp. gate. Eighteen immediately folded her arms and found a spot where she could wait without being noticed. Krillin shook his head and walked up to the front door.  
Half an hour later he walked out again with a big smile on his face. Bulma hadn't given him any trouble about lending the money. Although she had been curious about the cash he'd wanted.  
He looked around and saw that Eighteen hadn't moved an inch. _Figures._ He thought.  
He walked up to her and held out the pile of bills in front of her. "Here you go." He was still trying to get her to loosen up a bit. "Bulma said, she'll have the rest in three or four days."  
Eighteen rolled her eyes. "That long?" She obviously didn't like the idea of spending a few more nights at the Kamehouse. Krillin couldn't blame her, after all Oolong did snore pretty loudly.  
"Well I guess you'll want to do some shopping now." He said and turned around to head back to the island.  
  


***

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" she demanded. He was already five feet up in the air. He turned back, totally confused.  
"Well, I'm going home. Or am I not?" He asked insecurely.  
"If you dare go anywhere, I'll blast you to pieces." She glared at him.  
He abruptly dropped to the ground, not knowing what to think of this. She turned around and started walking in the direction of a nearby mall. When she noticed he wasn't following her, she shot a blast over her shoulder. It hit the ground a few feet to his left. It didn't hurt him one bit, but he almost fell over out of fright. "Are you going to stand there until I hit you or are you coming?!"  
"S-ssure I'm right behind you." He stuttered as he ran to catch up with her.  
As they walked along the sidewalk, he dared ask her about what was happening.  
"Ehmm.. Why am I supposed to come with you?" He ducked to avoid any punches thrown his way.  
For some time it seemed like she hadn't heard him. She didn't even say anything harsh nor hit him like he'd expected. It was almost like she didn't know it herself and was now trying to think of a reason.  
"You don't expect me to carry all those bags myself, do you?" It wasn't what she'd intended to say, but if she told him the real reason, she'd be exposing herself too much.  
"Oh… ok" So he was supposed to be a carrier boy. _Great, why does it always have to be me?_ Not that he really minded getting to spend some more time with her.  
He soon discovered that Eighteen had quite an eye for fashion. She stopped by almost every clothes shop the mall had. After forty-five minutes he was already trying to carry more than he could. Which resulted in him actually enjoying sitting down, while she tried on new outfits. He usually didn't care much for all that searching and wondering whether something looked good. But now he got to judge how _she_ looked, because she was actually asking his opinion.  
When they had roamed most of the mall, they sat down for a drink. Krillin was absolutely exhausted of dragging around an entire wardrobe. He'd tripped five times already, because the bags didn't allow him to see where he was going and a few nasty bruises were starting to appear on his kneecaps.  
She looked at him, while he was rubbing his knees. Although she didn't like to admit it, she was actually having a good time with him. "You don't seem very used to shopping." It escaped her thoughts and had worked its way outside. _I can't believe I'm actually trying to start a conversation._ She said to herself. _Why wouldn't you?_ A very soft and timid voice replied.  
"Well, I'm a guy and guys don't often go shopping, you see." He answered as he got up and reached for his drink.  
"Doesn't your girlfriend ever make you come along with her?"  
"I don't have a girlfriend."  
Somewhere inside she felt relieved, she didn't understand why (or maybe she did but didn't want to admit it). She fell quiet, feeling a bit ashamed for inquiring about his girlfriend. He noticed and decided to change the subject to get her off the hook.  
"So… wouldn't be working in a fashion store be something?"  
"What? Why would you think that?" She thought they'd been clear on the fact, that she wasn't going to get a job.  
"You've got a great fashion sense, at least from my point of view. It might even help your peoples skills."  
"I wouldn't count on it." She dropped back to her harsh tone again.  
He didn't notice; he was starting to get used to it. "It was just a suggestion."  
Quiet.  
"I think I've got enough for the time being. We'd better be heading back to that little island of yours."  
"That's fine with me." Actually it wasn't. He wasn't at all feeling like flying those bags and boxes all the way home, but he wasn't about to let her know that. Then, when he started to get up, she stopped him.  
"Wait a minute, I'll be right back." She got up and started walking back towards the stores. "Just sit there and don't move." So he didn't move until she came back five minutes later.  
"All right." She said. "Lets go."  
He jumped up immediately and picked up the stuff that was piled up around him, still wondering where she'd gone off to. To his great surprise she picked up almost half of the bags herself. When she saw his amazed look, she said: "I do have arms you know."  
He nodded and finished pilling some boxes.  
They didn't talk on their way back. They were both to busy trying to keep the bags from dropping into the ocean. Krillin really thought it was a miracle that they made it without losing a single thing.  
He helped Eighteen carry the things upstairs and then left her to herself. She flew of an hour later and didn't return until late that evening. She went up to her room without saying a word. Which got a lot of comment from Roshi and Oolong after she was out of earshot off course.  
  


***

When Krillin entered his room half an hour later, he noticed a box standing on his bed. As he wondered where it had come from, he opened it to find a shirt inside. It was just a plain red shirt. He put it on and checked himself out in the mirror. It looked pretty good, though it would probably have looked better if he hadn't had such a bald head. He wondered where it could've come from. When he searched the box he found a little note. It was written in a graceful handwriting and it said: "Thanks"   
That was it and that was all he needed. He jumped a hole in the air and almost into the roof as well, since he hit the ceiling with a loud thump.  
Down the hallway Eighteen lay on her bed, smiling as she heard the sound. _So he got the message._   


***


	3. You’re still in bed at ten and work bega...

  
  
  
A/N:Sorry to wait so long with a new chapter, but I'm currently suffering from three things:  
1 writersblock  
2 finals (doesn't everybody just hate those things?)  
3 a really sweet and wonderful guy (Ok, I'm not really _suffering_ from him, but he does keep me a little distracted ^_~)  
My finals are next week so the new chapter won't be out for two weeks or so. I hope you won't quit on me, because of that. Anyway, here's the new chapter, I hope you'll like it! Please review!  
BTW: Many thanks to the people, who reviewed. I am ever so grateful. 

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ... bla, bla, bla, yackedy, smackedy...   
  
  


***

**Chapter 3**

You're still in bed at ten and work began at eight

  
A pair of giggling teenagers walked into the store. They strolled through the isles, looking at the fashionable clothing. They started picking things out, holding it up in front of each other. Even more giggling. This was it, she couldn't postpone it any longer. They probably weren't interested in buying anything, but she was hired to sell them things, so she'd better go and try.   
"Hi, can I help you with anything?" She disgusted having to say that.  
"Well, ehm.. I'm not sure." One of the girls replied. She seemed to be about 16 years old, with dark green hair and big brown eyes. She looked over at her friend; a brunette with dark, blue eyes. "Go ahead, she might be able to help you out" her friend urged.  
The green haired girl looked at the floor, gathering courage. Then she looked straight at Eighteen and started explaining her problem. "It's like this. There's this guy in our class, who I used to date with. We broke up about three weeks ago. He and his friends have been picking on me ever since. There's gonna be a big party next Saturday and well.. they're always saying I look like a dork and.. I wanted to show them I'm not at the party. But they were kind of right about me being a dork, because I don't have anything cool to wear."  
_Oh great, social problems, ex-boyfriends; what more could I ask for._ Eighteen wasn't really happy about it. Then something occurred to her. "You mean it's like a revenge-thing?"  
"I guess you could put it that way." The brunette answered.  
A devious smile started to play around the cyborgs lips. "All right, lets get you a stunning outfit, that will blow those guys' heads of." The face of the green haired girl brightened at once.  
Trying to block out every thought of disgust for humans, Eighteen looked the girl over. She had a nice figure, so it wouldn't be to hard to get her to look cool. She closed her eyes and pictured what kind of outfit would be best, then she searched the store until she found something like it. The girl wasn't really sure about it, when she saw the outfit, but eighteen and the brunette practically forced her to put it on. She almost didn't recognize herself in the mirror, especially not when Eighteen showed her how to put up her hair, which made her look even more classy.  
The girl bought the entire outfit and before she walked out, she came up to Eighteen. "Thank you so very much! I would never have found something like this myself. Really, I can't thank you enough." She was looking up with shinning eyes. Eighteen didn't know how to react.  
"…You're welcome. Just show those guys who you really are and if you're ever in the neighborhood; come tell me what happened." She was surprised at herself for saying something like that. The girl nodded enthusiastically and walked out with her friend. Eighteen watched them go, smiling. _Maybe the baldhead was right after all. This whole job-business could turn out to be fun._  
  


***

All though she had some more satisfied customers, she wasn't that fond of selling anymore at the end of the day. It had been just one customer that had ruined it for her. The very rich lady had come in late in the afternoon, demanding that she would be helped immediately. She displayed an air of being more important, than anyone else.  
Eighteen had hated the woman's attitude right away. It only got worse when she heard what the woman wanted. She wanted to look as young as her daughter again, she couldn't stand that people were able to see, that she had a twenty-two year old child. The finest surgeons were already preparing her facelift and now all she needed was new 'young' clothes.  
Eighteen tried, but it was no use. The trendy outfits the woman picked out, simply looked ridiculous on her. To make things worse, she blamed Eighteen for it. The woman's insults died away quickly, as both of her bodyguards were lifted into the air and thrown out the store. She herself ran out screaming.  
After the store was closed, eighteen was called to the chief.   
"Look you have a great fashion sense, but you also have a short temper."  
Eighteen knew exactly where this was heading. "Save your breath, I won't be back tomorrow." She walked out and took off in the direction of Kamehouse.  
The whole thing hadn't been a complete failure, but she was still feeling rather bad about it. After her shopping trip with Krillin she'd went out to find a job, like he'd suggested. Luckily she found one where she could start the very next day and now it hadn't worked out. She really felt like blowing something up, but she needed a bath first.  
When she arrived at the little island, she noticed that the pig and the old man weren't there. She later heard, that they'd gone on a trip and wouldn't be back until she left. Krillin was there, training on the beach. He stopped as soon as he saw her. He noticed she didn't look very cheerful.  
They stood on the beach looking at each other for some time. She felt like something clicked.  
"Looks like you've had a rough day. Want me to run a hot bath for you?"  
She scowled. "You've read my mind."  
He raised an eyebrow and headed inside. "I'll take that as a yes." He muttered over his shoulder.  
She took her time in the bathtub letting all the events of the day wash of. When she came out an hour later and saw the sun hanging low above the ocean, she didn't feel like blowing anyone up. The only person around was Krillin and he hadn't deserved something like that.  
She climbed out her window and lay down on the roof again. The gentle breeze rustled her hair, as the dying sunlight lit the already pink house. An inner calm had arose in her, clouding the hatred in her heart. She might never lose her short temper, or her grumpiness, but she'd made a start in becoming more like a 'normal' person.  
  


***

Stars where already glittering in the dark night and she was still laying on the roof. She was disturbed by a sound coming from inside the house. Someone was opening doors hastily and calling something. The voice became clearer when the door to her room was opened.  
"Eighteen?! Are you in here?" Krillin sounded anxious. He walked up to the window and looked outside. "Damn, where could she have gone? I didn't see her leave.. I sure hope she's all right."  
She stayed quiet, looking at the worried man. It was stupid of him to worry off course, it wasn't like she couldn't take care of herself. Still she thought it was sweet as well.  
"I'm up here you idiot. No need to scream your head of." Her tone wasn't as harsh as she'd wanted it to be.  
He looked around and started blushing when he saw her sitting there. Once again, he'd made a fool of himself.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you." He pulled his head back inside.  
She sighed. _Am I going to have to make every move?_ "Get your ashamed butt out here, right now!" she shouted. Then she waited. Very slowly he came floating out through the window, not sure what to do next.  
"Sit down." She commanded.  
Wordlessly he sat down next to her.  
"Now relax, that's why I'm up here and you could sure use some relaxation as well."  
Krillin nodded and lay back. He put his hands behind his head and tried to loosen his muscles. That was very hard for him, while lying next to Eighteen. After a while he discovered, that concentrating on the stars helped a lot. They lay there without saying word. It was hard for him to tell how long; it might have been half an hour, but it could just as well have been three hours.   
Then she got up. "I'm heading off to bed. Maybe you should do so too"  
No answer, he just nodded in agreement.  
She climbed back in through her window, wondering if he was going to use the same way. When she turned around, she saw he was floating outside of her window. She walked up to him.   
_She looks really pretty like this. The starlight reflecting in her eyes, her hair so soft in the blue light._ He didn't stop looking at her, not even after she'd given him a fierce scowl.   
"I'm not a window dummy." She said quite coarsely.  
"I know." He replied unnaturally calm. Then he lend forward and kissed her directly on the lips. _I might as well do it now and if she kills me for it, well.. too bad; I really wouldn't mind._   
Eighteen was too shocked to even think of killing him. Krillin took his time and when he finally let go of her, she still couldn't say anything. He gave her a little smile and then flew to his own window and climbed inside.  
She stood there frozen for a few moments, then she touched her lips, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Her entire body felt like it was on fire, but not of rage. She absolutely had no desire to kill the baldhead, instead other (new) feelings were starting to surface. She laid down on her bed and curled up under the blankets. _He made a move…and…he's not a bad kisser._ She fell asleep with a remote smile on her face.   


***


	4. You burned your breakfast, so far things...

  
  
  
A/N: Yay! I finally finished the new chapter!! It seems to have taken me forever, but at least it's a long one. Does that compensate the wait? The next one might take a while, since I'm rather busy at the moment.   
Anyway I thought that, this time, I'd thank the reviewers of the last chapter personally, so:

Aymei: Yes.. eh.. well... that was some kind of review you wrote there ^_^" I got the point that you liked my story, so I hope you'll like the next chapters as well. Thank you for reviewing! BTW: About being more mature about it; don't worry, I sure won't mind if you're not.

Celesta + SSJ Pan: *hides behind a chair* Ok, ok, I'm writing already. I'm glad you liked it enough to threathen me. Thanks for reviewing. ^_^

Deadly Beauty: *refrains herself from hugging you* Yay! You've been reviewing ever since I posted chapter one!!!! I can't thank you enough; it's really nice to know, you take the trouble to check up on my fic. About reading your fics: I promise I will, after I finish this one. You see, I wanted to write this fic, without ever reading any other Krillin and 18 fanfic. This fic will probably be only 8 chapters, so I'll read your fics within a few weeks. (At least, I hope so ^_^")

flowerchild1313: Thanks for the review, and for wishing me luck. I'm sure it helped! Well ok, for every test exept the two I blew. ^_~ 

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ... bla, bla, bla, yackedy, smackedy...   
  
  


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**Chapter 4**

You burned your breakfast, so far things are going great

  
The window creaked as it slowly swung inward. The sun had yet to rise, but the pale light of dawn was already illuminating the small island and the room in front of her. She hesitated to climb in and instead just hovered outside for a while. Then slowly she placed one hand on the windowsill and jumped in with cat-like grace. Her feet didn't make a sound when they touched the floor, but the young man in the bed stirred nonetheless; as if he sensed her presence. She stayed completely silent for some time, just studying the short huddled up man.  
The wind kicked up outside and blew through the window. Her blond hair billowed around her face and she waited patiently for the gust to pass by, to tuck the golden strands back behind her ear. It didn't seem like he was going to wake up, so she sat down on a chair next to the bed, making sure she'd be able to make a clear escape through the open window if he were to awaken.  
As she looked at the solemn face of the 'baldhead', she wondered why she was there. _To get money and a fresh start_, the business side of her mind replied. _That's not what I meant._ She thought coarsely. _Why am I sitting here, in his room looking at him, what made me come?_ Another part of her artificial mind, that had laid dormant for many years whispered softly, but with a hint of amusement: _It was the kiss, wasn't it?_ She grunted, earning her some mumbling from her sleeping 'roommate'. It seemed like her mind actually chuckled. _I knew it! And not just the kiss, but everything else as well. He's being so sweet and considerate. You're attracted to him, am I right?_  
She shushed the voice, not knowing the answer or just unwilling to accept it. He was making her go crazy, making her start conversations with her mind. Trying to distract herself, she looked around the room. It was very simply decorated with only the bare necessities. A glimpse of red fabric on the desk caught her eye. It was darker than the gi Krillin usually wore and she soon recognized it as the shirt she'd bought him. A smile crossed her lips as she remembered the loud thump she'd heard that night. She automatically looked up to see a large dent in the ceiling, where he'd hit his head. Then she returned her gaze to him. "What's happening baldy?" she mumbled.   
  


***

Water, all he saw was water; it spread out to the horizon in every direction. There it blended into the darkness of the night sky. No, not the night sky; there were no stars, just blackness. The water lay quiet, no waves, not even the slightest ripple. He hovered a few feet above the endless ocean, wondering what this was all about. A soft splashing sound behind his back made him whirl around, but there was nothing there, only some circular ripples that slowly expanded into the dark. The wind kicked up and blew around his bald head, yet the ocean below him stayed unmoved. He decided to pick a direction and start flying, it wasn't like hanging around in the same spot would do him any good.  
Another splash made him stop in mid-flight. He called out, but there came no reply. There was no one to be seen in any direction. He'd flown for some time again when he suddenly realized something. _Up…_ He threw his head back and searched the dark sky. There it was a small, grey spot straight above him. He shot up to meet the thing or person, that had been watching him. After a few minutes it came nearer, but it stayed unclear, so Krillin couldn't make out what it was. His curiosity got the better of him and he put on a burst of speed, but when he stopped the grey spot was nowhere to be found.   
Something collided with his stomach and send him flying back to the water below. He took in a deep breath, as he expected to hit the fluid, but it was knocked out of him when he landed on a hard wooden floor. Confused he looked around; after a moment he recognized his own room and his bed next to him. Still sleepy he got up from the floor and made his way to the bathroom. In the mirror he could see a blue spot forming on his skull.   
"Oh, just great, a bruise." He mumbled. Some warm water eased the stinging in his head. He sighed, looking his reflection in the eyes. "Remind me never to have a nightmare again."  
"Who says I'm going to be around long enough to keep such a promise?" A grumpy, but very awake voice answered.  
He was still looking into the mirror and his eyebrows rose in shock, while a blush crept onto his cheeks, when he discovered the female figure leaning against the doorframe.  
"I..I.. wasn't talking to you. I.."  
"Save it baldy. I know that." She gruffly replied. "So are you done talking to yourself? I'd like to use the bathroom now." She made it sound like an order instead of a question; that somehow made him smile.  
"Sure I'm done, go right ahead." He said while he walked past her out of the room.  
For a minute she stayed in the same place, wondering why he'd smiled, but then she brushed the thought of and started her morning ritual.   
  


***

It had been two hours since the incident in the bathroom. Krillin hadn't seen Eighteen downstairs yet. He was doing his morning workout on the beach, a little more energetic than usual. His thoughts kept drifting back to the night before. He still couldn't believe, he'd kissed her. Maybe that was the reason why she had been avoiding him all morning. _I really hope I didn't scare her away._ He thought. Another part of his mind replied dryly: _Yeah right, like **you** would ever be able to scare **her**._ After grunting aloud he got lost in his daydreams again. He was startled by a graceful hand that caught one of his swinging fists. His eyes traced the arm connected to it, to end staring straight into two icy blue eyes.  
"..." (A/N: She looked a bit annoyed. "Do you always act this foolish?"  
"... ehh.. no... I.. eh"  
"Not very convincing. Now lets start **my** morning workout." She let his hand go and dropped into a stance.  
He stood still in total shock for a moment. Trying to comprehend, that she actually wanted to spar with **him**. Then he dropped into a stance as well, focussing his ki and determined to deliver a good fight.  
She flew straight at him and he braced himself, but she stopped just before reaching him and performed a perfect spinning kick. To her surprise it was blocked. She then she released a fit of blows and kicks on him, only to find the majority of them blocked as well.  
He didn't understand, he had expected to have been biting dust within 2 seconds, but he'd been holding out for over 5 minutes. She wasn't going her fullest at him and he knew it, he just didn't understand why.  
_What am I doing? Why am going easy on this guy? I should have beaten him with one blow!_ Part of her mind shouted in between a kick and a punch. _You can't. You might hurt him and you don't want to hurt him._ The other side replied softly, but certain. _I don't care if I hurt anyone!_ The voice screamed in rage and confusion. _Yes you do!_  
Krillin saw an opening and threw in some kicks and punches of his own. To his great surprise some of them connected. He started to fight back with all he had and he managed to hit her a few more times. Then he jumped back and flattened his right palm up to the sky, forming a razor sharp slice of energy.  
"Destructo disc!" He yelled as he threw it at her.  
She almost didn't snap out of her thoughts in time to dodge it and it left a small cut in her left arm. Ignoring the cut she launched herself at him again, pushing him back by the fury of her blows, but she still wasn't using her real power. _Let me go and squash him!!!_ Her mind screamed again. _I'm not the one holding you back. Just face it; you really don't want to hurt him. You care about him!_ The inner struggle was becoming too much for her to handle. The cyborg part of her mind ended the fight with a final outcry:  
"I do NOT!" It was accompanied by a large kiblast, that hit the startled Krillin square in the chest.  
Too shocked to do anything she just waited until the sand and the water settled back to where they belonged. She was still standing in the same place, when she saw Krillin slowly getting up from the small crater he was in. His shirt hung in shreds and his chest looked seared, but otherwise he seemed fine.  
Then she jumped up and flew to the other side of the island. There she sat down in the sand and stared at the waves that came rolling onto the beach. She was confused; she'd felt sorry for hurting him like that and she had wanted to apologize, but she didn't know how. _I didn't mean to hurt him like that... or did I?_ She didn't know anymore.  
"Why did he do that anyway?" Krillins voice sounded behind her.  
She didn't turn around. "Who did what?"  
"Gero, why did he make his androids so lifelike?"  
He confused her, what did he mean? She looked up at him and he sat down to her left. His eyes were fixed on her arm and when she followed his gaze to the trickle of blood seeping from her cut, she understood.  
"I wasn't always partly machine." She stared back to the ocean again.  
"Partly? You mean you were human and Gero turned you into... an ..." He was cut off before he could find the words.  
"Yes, he did."  
It was quiet for some time; Krillin didn't know what to say. Suddenly, she turned to him.  
"I've been wondering about something, can I ask you?"  
He was curious what it could be. "Sure, go right ahead."  
"Why do you shave your head? I think it would look better with hair."  
He couldn't help, but laugh and blush. Not knowing whether to take this as an insult or a compliment.  
"I'm a monk. In my order we all shave our heads."  
"So there's no way you're ever going to let it grow?"  
"No, unless I give up being a monk and that will only happen if I get married."  
The information was registered into her brain, marked 'important'. She got to her feet and turned to walk to the house.  
"Maybe you should go take care of that burn."  
  


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End file.
